By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
In a quiet, three-game night in the NBA, it was the battle of Euro-legends that was the storyline.
Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol, two of the greatest big men in NBA history squared off as the Mavericks hosted the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs amounted to a first half lead (44-39) but never put the Mavs away and Dallas kept fighting.
The home side managed to cut the lead to three in the fourth (74-71) but that was the closest they would get as the Spurs won 97-91.
Pau Gasol had 2 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists in a win while Dirk Nowitzki did a little bit of everything with 12 points, 7 boards and 6 assists.
Earlier, the Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to 13 as they cruised past the Brooklyn Nets.
Daniel Theis had 2 points, 7 boards and a block in a win.
The Toronto Raptors shocked the Rockets (129-113) in Houston in a game that featured four Euro-bigs. Lithuanian center, Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points and 7 boards while Serge Ibaka battled foul trouble and added 5 points, 5 boards and 2 blocks in a win.
Austrian youngster Jakob Poeltl continues to bring energy off the bench for his team, chipping in with 7 points, 3 boards, an assist, a steal and a block in only 14 minutes of action.
Despite the loss, Clint Capela still managed to get a double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Here are last night’s results and the Euro-scorers.
| BROOKLYN NETS | BOSTON CELTICS | 102-109 | (Theis 2 p. 7 r. 1 b. – Mozgov 2 p. 1 r.) |
| HOUSTON ROCKETS | TORONTO RAPTORS | 113-129 | (Valanciunas 12 p. 7 r. 1 a., Ibaka 5 p. 5 r. 2 b. Poeltl 7 p. 3 r. 1 a. 1 s. 1 b., – Capela 11 p. 11 r. 1 a. 2 s.) |
| DALLAS MAVERICKS | SAN ANTONIO SPURS | 78-87 | (Nowitzki 12 p. 7 r. 6 a. 1 b., Kleber 5 p. 1 r. – Gasol 2 p. 10 b. 4 a., Bertans 1 s., Lauvergne 1 s.) |
|
TEAM
|
PTS
|
MP
|
W
|
L
|
POINTS
|
+/-
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EASTERN | ||||||||
|
1
|
15
|
13
|
2
|
1540 – 1418
|
122
|
|||
|
2
|
13
|
10
|
3
|
1385 – 1316
|
69
|
|||
|
3
|
TORONTO RAPTORS
|
13
|
8
|
5
|
1434 – 1365
|
69
|
||
|
4
|
13
|
8
|
5
|
1448 – 1377
|
71
|
|||
|
5
|
14
|
8
|
6
|
1537 – 1509
|
28
|
|||
|
6
|
13
|
7
|
6
|
1378 – 1364
|
14
|
|||
|
7
|
13
|
7
|
6
|
1356 – 1367
|
-11
|
|||
|
8
|
13
|
7
|
6
|
1404 – 1423
|
-19
|
|||
|
9
|
14
|
7
|
7
|
1537 – 1575
|
-38
|
|||
|
10
|
13
|
6
|
7
|
1325 – 1340
|
-15
|
|||
|
11
|
14
|
6
|
8
|
1512 – 1527
|
-15
|
|||
|
12
|
12
|
5
|
7
|
1241 – 1259
|
-18
|
|||
|
13
|
BROOKLYN NETS
|
14
|
5
|
9
|
1540 – 1598
|
-58
|
||
|
14
|
11
|
2
|
9
|
1030 – 1143
|
-113
|
|||
|
15
|
14
|
2
|
12
|
1437 – 1546
|
-109
|
|||
| WESTERN | ||||||||
|
1
|
14
|
11
|
3
|
1674 – 1508
|
166
|
|||
|
2
|
HOUSTON ROCKETS
|
15
|
11
|
4
|
1668 – 1569
|
99
|
||
|
3
|
13
|
8
|
5
|
1414 – 1439
|
-25
|
|||
|
4
|
SAN ANTONIO SPURS
|
13
|
8
|
5
|
1339 – 1295
|
44
|
||
|
5
|
14
|
8
|
6
|
1481 – 1467
|
14
|
|||
|
6
|
14
|
8
|
6
|
1504 – 1498
|
6
|
|||
|
7
|
13
|
7
|
6
|
1315 – 1299
|
16
|
|||
|
8
|
13
|
7
|
6
|
1365 – 1290
|
75
|
|||
|
9
|
13
|
6
|
7
|
1351 – 1280
|
71
|
|||
|
10
|
14
|
6
|
8
|
1376 – 1404
|
-28
|
|||
|
11
|
14
|
6
|
8
|
1446 – 1482
|
-36
|
|||
|
12
|
13
|
5
|
8
|
1394 – 1378
|
16
|
|||
|
13
|
15
|
5
|
10
|
1591 – 1727
|
-136
|
|||
|
14
|
13
|
3
|
10
|
1230 – 1374
|
-144
|
|||
|
15
|
DALLAS MAVERICKS
|
14
|
2
|
12
|
1393 – 1508
|
-115
|
||